It Starts

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has left a comment or sent an e-mail of congratulations on my recent engagement. I'm still working to get the word out to all my friends and family. Don't these people realize that the world would be a better place if they all read my blog on a regular basis?

I misspoke a bit at the end of yesterday's post when I made it sound as though hardcore planning for the wedding would be held off until Brandi's return from Texas. In trust, some planning has started already. We had narrowed down our discussion of dates to a couple of different weekends; Brandi stopped in at my workplace yesterday afternoon to tell me that she had selected a date and booked the venue.

I think she enjoyed her little visit to my office. It just so happened that she arrived during our afternoon breaktime, so I took her back into my department to introduce her to everyone. Of course, I had told my story of the weekend when I arrived in the morning, and so when the ladies of the department realized she was there, they all swarmed over to meet her and, oh yeah, to sneak a peek at her ring. I know she enjoyed the chance to show it off, although I think she may have been a little overwhelmed by meeting all those people at once.

When I arrived home after work, she told me that her stepmom had gone ahead and booked a caterer for that day. Her parents are friends with a couple who run a high-profile catering business in this area. Word on the street is that they were preparing to cater Katie Holmes's wedding before she broke off her engagement to Chris Klein to start running around Rome and Las Vegas with Tom Cruise. Said caterers have already asked for a preliminary guest list so they can begin preparations.

So! The date is set, the venue is booked, the catering is set, the colors are chosen, and Brandi has her entire court selected. I'm stuck a bit there. Brandi wants five girls to stand with her (her maid of honor has already accepted; she's waiting to ask the rest until I've started to ask mine). I currently have three guys in mind, and I'm mulling a bit on the other two. If it were a simple matter of friendship it wouldn't be all that difficult, but I'm trying to keep distances and other practical matters in mind. It would also be a lot easier if I didn't have to limit myself to dudes. Historically, I've generally gotten along better with girls, and thus a couple of my closest friends are, by necessity, left out of the equation. Such is life.

I have to admit, when I asked Brandi to marry me last Friday, I didn't think preparations would begin quite this quickly. I had a pretty basic idea, at least, of when the wedding would take place, and I guess I sort of assumed that such a long lead time would give us at least a month or two to just sort of mull it over. I should have known better. Brandi has grabbed onto this with both hands. Now that we're in the process, though, I'm glad. It's going to make things easier down the line that we're getting this stuff done now. It was more than I bargained for at first, but I've adjusted.

I've resolved to be as laid back as possible throughout the whole process. It shouldn't be much of a problem, as being mellow is the core of my nature anyway. I've already told her that there are only a select few things I really have strong opinions about. Everything else, I want to give input, but I'm not going to get worked up if I happen to be overridden. Honestly, I don't expect too much trouble in that area anyway. We have similar ideas on a lot of things, and we tend to work well together at any rate. Hmm...maybe that's why this is happening in the first place, eh?

The rest of the planning really will wait for Brandi to return from Texas, which happens one week from today. Our next step is finding a reception site. We've got a couple of places in mind; now we just need to get some information on them and then go check them out.